Well I kind of wanted Jack and Dara in the finale but I can see why Alexander got in over Jack. Alexander had the gross chicken liver and he made it excellent whereas Jack had a simple chicken breast. Of course Jack did a great job but Alexander had the more difficult protein. Troy blew it by under cooking his dish.

When they showed the proteins, I knew that Alexander was going to get the liver and I said that it's the one I'd prefer to get in a challenge like that. The reason being that I would get a more forgiving judgement because the level of difficulty is so much higher - and it paid off!

__________________"YOU! YES YOU! STAND STILL, LADDIE""How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?"

IMO, Jack got robbed. I think they just wanted to have one boy and one girl in the finale. She made chicken wings! Granted, she made them well but Jack made a beautiful, not at all uncomplicated, meal with the chicken breast.

It broke my heart to see him axed. I'm on team Alexander for sure. He and Jack were the best of the bunch from the get-go. Man, Troy sure tanked with the raw chicken. There was no way out of that one. Poor kid had to sit there through the rest of the tastings and judging, knowing he was outta there. I wanted to see him go anyway, but I still felt kind of badly for him.

I think Troy really screwed up with the strategy when he assigned the parts to the other competitors. If you stick the toughest competitor with the hardest thing to cook, then if he does well, he really outshines everyone because he cooked the hardest thing. Look at what happened to Jack -- he had the chicken breast and did the roulade, but even though it was a very technical dish and the execution was brilliant, he still went home.

Of course nothing can save you if your own dish comes out raw, but I wonder what would have happened if the assignments had been Alexander with the chicken breast, Dara with the liver and Jack with the wings.

__________________
"The capacity of human beings to disappoint me is never ending." -- Ereth

I think Troy really screwed up with the strategy when he assigned the parts to the other competitors. If you stick the toughest competitor with the hardest thing to cook, then if he does well, he really outshines everyone because he cooked the hardest thing. Look at what happened to Jack -- he had the chicken breast and did the roulade, but even though it was a very technical dish and the execution was brilliant, he still went home.

Of course nothing can save you if your own dish comes out raw, but I wonder what would have happened if the assignments had been Alexander with the chicken breast, Dara with the liver and Jack with the wings.

In the adult version of the show, how many times have we seen this happen? Somebody wins the advantage of choosing who gets what protein or dish to cook, gives what they think is the hardest to their chief competitor (who then does something fantastic with it) while they shoot themselves in the foot with a simple mistake like under/over cooking the food or forgetting an important ingredient.

I think Troy really screwed up with the strategy when he assigned the parts to the other competitors. If you stick the toughest competitor with the hardest thing to cook, then if he does well, he really outshines everyone because he cooked the hardest thing. Look at what happened to Jack -- he had the chicken breast and did the roulade, but even though it was a very technical dish and the execution was brilliant, he still went home.

Of course nothing can save you if your own dish comes out raw, but I wonder what would have happened if the assignments had been Alexander with the chicken breast, Dara with the liver and Jack with the wings.

Not to mention that his own choice was the boring thigh, and all he did was cook it poorly, nothing interesting at all. He was probably going home even if it was cooked right.

I sure hope Alexander takes this! He deserves it head and shoulders above the little girl. Maybe Jack will come back next time. He also deserves to win, IMO.

Unless there's an "All-Stars" version, which I doubt (as by the time they have enough kids to do it, some will be adults), I don't think any of these 12 will be on the show in future seasons. Maybe if the "adult" version runs for a few more seasons (and I don't see why it wouldn't), one or more of these kids will be allowed to be on that show. Besides - assuming there is a next season for this show (American Juniors was supposed to have a second season as well, until it was pulled at pretty much the last second), they will probably search nationwide rather than just in New York / Los Angeles / San Francisco.

No, it's not really fair to the runner-up not to be allowed back, is it? Then again, how fair was it when the winner of the most recent Hell's Kitchen didn't get the promised job (choose one: "for personal reasons", "because she failed a Caesar's-mandated drug test") and the runner-up was told, "Sorry, but you don't get the job in her place"?

I was rooting for Alexander all the way-and I was worried that Dara might win- she did a great job and I don't think the judges were exaggerating when they said it was super-close and came down to the smallest details

YAY ALEXANDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was a good sport, too-he gave Dara something she needed (don't remember what it was) out of his own supply...and helped Chef Ramsay calm her down when she freaked out...don't think the adults would do that...maybe help with the ingredients, but they'd relish a freak-out!

Fun to see Luca there-nice of him to give the kids props-they really did perform well under the pressure!

It was great to see Alexander comforting Dara when she was feeling lightheaded. Ditto with sharing the ingredients.

The judges kept saying it was really close -- I wonder if it came down to Dara's overcooking the shrimp in her main course.

The thing that impressed me the most -- after watching several seasons of Top Chef, one of the challenges that causes an Epic Fail is when the contestants are required to make a dessert. Clearly both Alexander and Dara, and several of the other kids, could whip a lot of the stuck-up chefs on Top Chef. It would be fun to see that.

I'm sad that the season is over.

__________________
"The capacity of human beings to disappoint me is never ending." -- Ereth

Start with fewer people and eliminate two and a time and that's what happens.

I don't usually pick a person that I want to win on these types of shows. I usually just pick people that I don't want to win and hope the get eliminated.
Because it's just amazing how much more helpful, encouraging and understanding the kids were vs the adults, I never rooted for anyone's elimination.

__________________discipuli nostrum bardissimi sunt.
- Assuming based on evidence is not the same as knowing.
- If you want to argue with me at least use some actual facts instead of making it up.

The only negative I take from this season is that two of the oldest were the finalists. And wasn't Alexander the oldest overall?

Alexander was the oldest (listed as 13 in the press release); Dara, Jewels, Molly, Roan, Sofia, and Troy are 12; Kaylen and Tommy, 11; Gavin and Jack, 10; Sarah, 9.

Did they ever mention the kids' last names on the show? They're not listed in the press releases, and Fox did not put out a release announcing the winner like it usually does for its reality shows. Yes, I realize that they're "just kids," but that didn't stop Fox from listing last names on American Juniors (or for under-18 singers on American Idol or The X Factor).Some sites do list some or all of their last names, but I won't mention them here out of privacy concerns.